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In Christian and Mediæval Times: Azman

But all too soon this simple act of faith changed to the pagan magic. The science of "Azman," practised by means of a waxen goblin, became a wide-spread secret art.

It is said that at the ceremony of initiation in the art of Azman, the baptismal rite was performed in the most solemn manner with the use of holy water, this sacrilegious act being considered necessary to give power to the image of wickedness.

In a book written in 1455 by Dr. Hartlieb we are told: - "One finds certain sorcerers who make Atzmana of wax and other things. They make these at certain hours and pronounce over them certain incantations and names, and hang them where they can swing freely in the air. It is believed that when the wind stirs them, the persons in whose names the images were made, shall have no rest."

These Atzmana were immersed in water, toasted by the fire, or stuck through with needles and buried under the door-step, as well as hung in the air, it being believed that the person intended to be bewitched through the image would suffer all the torments inflicted upon it. It was considered of great importance that the features of the person to be bewitched should be copied as accurately as possible in wax. If needles were stuck into the image, the bewitched person represented by it felt In Christian and Mediæval Times 331 great pain; and if the needles were stuck into its heart or head, the bewitched person died.